Burn
by bigk4062
Summary: Based off of Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Burn.' Joey deals with the fall out from Kaiba's announcement. J/K


A/N: So I was listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'First burn' song with all of the Eliza's singing, and I realized I could see Kaiba logically convincing himself that he would have to have a press conference to admit to an affair because people were talking about him. Thus this was born, based very loosely off of Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'First Burn' and 'Burn' lyrics for the play Hamilton. Great songs, go listen to them!

Joey sat on a bench out in the garden, a stack of shoe boxes next to him. He had already started a small fire, and he watched mesmerized as the flames danced around and grew in size. His mind wandered, not wanting to start the task he had come out here to do. Sighing to himself, he opened up the first box, pulling off the rubber band and slipping it onto his wrist.

He puled out the first piece, a newspaper article from a tournament he had won right after Atem had left. Yugi hadn't participated, not wanting to deal with all the emotions of dueling so soon after he had lost his partner. Kaiba had refused to duel also, figuring there would be no challenge without Yugi. That left Joey to headline, and he hadn't disappointed, pulling out a last minute victory against another powerhouse duelist.

This article was an interview after the tournament, where Kaiba had referred to his win as 'impressive.' Mokuba had kindly clipped it out, sending it to Joey several weeks later with a note mentioning that Kaiba had upgraded him to a 'second-rate duelist.' Joey had laughed, calling Yugi and telling him about his 'upgrade' before hiding the article in his dresser.

Joey read the article over several times, remembering the warm feeling that he had gotten knowing that he had finally gotten Kaiba to warm up to him a little. Sighing, he ripped the article in half along with the note from Mokuba and tossed them into the fire. He flipped through the next ones with little fanfare, various articles about Kaiba Corp offering him a sponsorship, and Kaiba's slightly warm comments about his duels.

He continued to rip them up, dumping each one into the fire after he was done. Soon the box was empty, and Joey dumped that into the fire also, closing his eyes as tears started to form. The next box was opened, the first rubber band being joined by the second. Here was the invitation that Kaiba had sent him for a charity ball, stating in bold print that going was part of the contract that Joey had signed when he became sponsored by Kaiba Corp.

Joey had agreed, pulling out his only suit and hoping that he could shine his shoes enough to be presentable. Mokuba had come over a few days later, claiming it was to hang out but once he spotted what Joey had planned on wearing, he quickly scooped the blond up and took him to a tailor, forcing Joey to find a suitable outfit for the ball. When the bill had come, Mokuba had paid, telling Joey it would be covered by Kaiba Corp because of his sponsorship. Joey had agreed after a long internal debate, knowing that he really did want to look for this event.

He rubbed his fingers over the invitation again before violently ripping it and throwing it into the fire. The next piece was an article about the ball, talking about the money that had been raised and the people who had showed up. Next to it was another article, with a picture of Joey and Kaiba leaning in towards each other and whispering, the headline speculating if Kaiba was finally off of the market.

Joey scanned over the article, remembering the blustering answer he had received from the CEO that had ended in a hesitant hand written dinner invitation. That was next into the fire, followed by the receipt to the fancy Italian place they had gone too then the drive-thru Joey had made Kaiba hit later on that night for dessert. Joey dumped out the rest of the box, random receipts from various places that they had gone too, and notes on conversations they had had on a variety of scraps of paper.

The next box was more painful-letters that Kaiba had written him, starting with after their first date. Joey picked up the first one, pulling it out of the envelope and reading it again. He had to stop several times to rub his eyes, trying to get rid of the drops of tears that were starting to form. Movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to sit up stiffly, knowing who it was. Sure enough Kaiba appeared, hovering over the edge of the bench. Joey sighed, looking down at the paper in his hands.

"Do you know what Yugi said to me when he found out about us? I didn't know what to say to him, how to explain that we were together so I gave him this. He read it so many times, not understanding at first what I was telling him. When he finally did, he handed this back to me, smiling."

Joey paused, looking back down at the letter and reading it again before violently tearing it up and throwing it into the fire.

"He told me to be careful with you. That even though you were smart and handsome and acted like you actually wanted this, that if something happened, that if I in anyway threatened your job or your brother, that you would drop me as quickly as you had picked me up."

Kaiba shuffled a bit, the black coat with red trim that he had picked out for this talk with his husband moving around noiselessly. He took a step towards the blond, knowing the best way to make things better would be to confess as quickly as possible.

"Don't."

Joey said, jumping up and turning away from the taller man, dropping the letters in his lap on the ground in the process.

"You don't come near me. Not now, not ever. I'm not stupid, I know you're going to try to convince me that you didn't mean to hurt me, that this was unavoidable, but that's not true. Stay right there if you want to, you can watch me try to figure this out."

Joey began flipping the letters on the floor into the fire, not even bothering to reread them.

"I'm just trying to understand how you could have done this to me, to us. I thought you'd grown up, that you realized that there are things in life that are more important than board meetings and being the best at some stupid game. I thought I knew you, but I was wrong."

Joey dumped the rest of that box into the fire, watching as the greedy flames devoured the paper within seconds, turning bluish-green in the process. Joey covered his mouth, trying to contain the feelings of grief and rage that were billowing up inside him. Despite his warnings, Kaiba marched over, wrapping his arms around Joey and pulling him as close as possible.

Joey stiffened, not knowing what to do but feeling himself softening as his husband whispered apologies in his hair. Wrapping his arms around Kaiba, he closed his eyes, letting his mind calm down after the whirlwind last few days he had had. Then he remember why they were out here in the first place and he pushed Kaiba away, only half relieved that his husband managed to keep from stumbling into the fire pit.

"So tell me Kaiba, what was going on in that big stupid brain of yours? Oh well, Joey's only been my husband for the past few years, I've been CEO of Kaiba Corp a lot long that that so that's more important to me?"

"That's not what-"

"So what is it then? You didn't even warn me about what was happening! I woke up the other morning and you weren't there, all I had was an apology note on your pillow. No answer on your phone, you hired security to keep me at the mansion so I couldn't track you down. Then Tristan and Yugi show up..."

Joey's voice broke, his knees wobbling so much that he was forced to sit back on the bench, refusing still to look at his husband.

"They showed up, and they showed me the paper, the pictures, the letters, everything. It's all over the internet, the things you wrote her, the things you said to her, that you decided to have an affair with her and thought nobody would notice? The things people are saying about us, about our lives... do you know what they call me? Do you know what they say about me? About you? About us? About Mokuba?"

Joey was in a panic now, pulling papers out of boxes, letting some fall to the ground, reading and ripping up some of them. Kaiba watched, unable to tear his eyes away from the mess, or come up with something to say that would make things better.

"You released all of it, telling everyone how you two had an affair and she blackmailed you, how you transferred money from your paycheck into Kaiba Corp to pay her off. How you heard that people were talking about you, about what you were doing, and instead of coming to me to confess, you just threw it out there for everyone. "

Joey balled his fist, never in his whole life had he wanted to punch Kaiba, but that wouldn't get his point across at all.

"Everyone knows how you brought this woman into our home when I wasn't there, to eat at my place, to sleep in my bed, to kiss my husband while I was traveling for your company. All the whispers, the talking over the past few months that I pushed away because I've been watching people for years fall at your feet, and I never had a reason to doubt you. I should have remembered who I was dealing with, the same person who tried to kill one of my friends because of a stupid game. All you care about is yourself, how people see you. You don't care about anyone else, not when it comes to saving your precious reputation."

Joey stopped, picking up another box and throwing it into the fire, not even caring to see what was in it. He stood up slowly, getting as close to his husband as he could, staring up into Kaiba's blue eyes.

"I'm done. Don't ask me to stand by your side for photo ops, don't ask me to make a statement defending you or demonizing her. Go to your office and stay there until I have the chance to make other arrangements, don't come back here until I am gone. Maybe that will be enough time for you to realize that you've done."

Joey brushed past Kaiba, the taller man reaching out to grab his wrist as Joey went past. The blond stiffened, freezing at the familiar contact between them. He turned, honey brown eyes locking with ice blue, before yanking his arm away. He silently handed Kaiba the 9 rubber bands that had been around his wrists, the ones that had held together the boxes that were now ashes.

"I hope that you burn for this Kaiba."

Joey whispered, leaving the brunet alone with the fire and the remnants of their life together.


End file.
